WORMS?? good or Bad??

[chevyjaxon]

hi, as my tank matures more and more Im noticing other creatures coming from my live rock, worms. ive noticed 2 today one is grey and has little spikes all over itself the other one is white and seems to stretch itself from one rock trying to reach the next but it cant so it just gives up and tries again 30 or so seconds later also ive noticed my starfish isnt spreading out as good as it used too it just kinda clings to the glass in a crumpled ball
are worms ok to have? is my starfish dying?

[chevyjaxon]

bump?

[mr_alberta]

Without a picture its hard to tell exactly which worms you are talking about, but its most likely a Bristle Worm (spikey) and possibly a Peanut Worm. Both are mainly harmless though bristle worms can cause problems with their spikes if they get really big.

As for starfish, its hard to tell. They usually drop legs before they die. Starfish are notoriously sensative to Salinity and once they start to die, there is very little you can do to stop it. If you do a quick seach on the forum here, I'm sure you can find much more info.

Originally Posted by chevyjaxon

hi, as my tank matures more and more Im noticing other creatures coming from my live rock, worms. ive noticed 2 today one is grey and has little spikes all over itself the other one is white and seems to stretch itself from one rock trying to reach the next but it cant so it just gives up and tries again 30 or so seconds later also ive noticed my starfish isnt spreading out as good as it used too it just kinda clings to the glass in a crumpled ball
are worms ok to have? is my starfish dying?

[chevyjaxon]

how does a bristle worms spikes cause trouble? are they venomous?

[justinl]

yes they are venomous; dont handle them bare handed. They only actually cause significant problems in about 1 in a thousand tanks though.